Lillian and her guests all laughed.
Lou smiled too because it was stupid to take offence, her mother often said.
‘Sweetie,’ Lillian went on to Lou, ‘I might run up to Dublin with the boys tomorrow for the weekend. I want to go shopping. There’s a lovely rumour’ – she beamed at her guests – ‘that yours truly might be the first female recipient of the Kennedy Art Prize! I know ... Utterly thrilling. So I’ll need an outfit. But I think I have boulders for my rockery coming sometime next week. I can’t recall the details. You can ring and ask, can’t you, because somebody needs to be here for the delivery —’
‘Lillian,’ said Lou, and she found that her voice was ridiculously quivery. ‘It’s my party on Friday night.’
Lillian’s mouth fell downwards.
‘This Friday?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ breathed Lou.
Lillian paused, calculating. She did not look pleased.
‘Boys, you’ll have to go without me,’ she said finally, but her face was taut with displeasure. ‘Now, more wine?’
As Lou drove off twenty minutes later, the meal cooked and ready to go, she wished she’d eaten a few of the sausages herself. She was ravenous, and Ned wasn’t waiting at home for his dinner. He was out at a work event tonight but, even if he hadn’t been, Ned’s habit was to eat whenever he got hungry and he never expected Lou to cook for him. The corollary was that he never cooked for her either. When it came to food, he was entirely self-sufficient and grazed endlessly.
Still, her mother hadn’t known Ned was out and Lou hadn’t wanted to press herself upon her mother and her guests. She was ‘the milk of human kindness’, too. She hoped that not leaving water for the dog was the right decision.
Near home, the phone rang and Lou, who feared being stopped by the police, rapidly pulled into the side of the road.
‘Lou. Glad I got you,’ said Ned’s cheery voice. ‘I tried the house, but you were out.’
‘I was over at Lillian’s,’ she reminded him, although she’d mentioned it that morning. Ned would forget his head if it wasn’t attached.
‘Of course,’ he said quickly. ‘Anyway, are you home now?’
‘No,’ she said, and hopefully added, ‘are you on your way?’
‘Hell’s bells, no,’ he said. ‘I’ll be hours. Listen, I can’t believe I’ve forgotten this but—’
Lou began to smile. Dear Ned. He’d finally thought of her birthday present. He was hopeless at gifts and he’d need a bit of a steer. She’d mention the gold bangle or tell him about the hand-dyed silk scarves in the Things of Beauty shop in town ...
‘I’m lending the big computer power bank to Barry because he’s off on that cycling trip at the weekend and if you don’t put it out in the hall, I’ll forget it again. Could you grab it from the study and put it out where I’ll trip over it?’
‘Sure,’ said Lou, feeling utterly forgotten for the second time in half an hour. ‘Will do.’
‘You’re a treasure, Lou,’ said her husband. ‘Bye. Don’t wait up!’
Not everyone was a treasure, Lou reminded herself as she set off again.
She’d have a me-time night, she decided. Maybe a bath. If she was braver, she’d think about what to wear to the party, but she didn’t feel all that brave. She and Mim had talked about reaching the grand old age of fifty and being fit and toned. Now she was there on the cusp of fifty and she wasn’t even vaguely toned. Her A-line dresses were a necessity now, elegant cover-ups to hide the results of every bar of chocolate and poor food choice. While poor Mim was gone.
I’m sorry,Lou said to her friend.I am so sorry, my darling. You’d have done anything to reach fifty. I’m just a complaining old cow and ignore me. Promise?
How could Lou worry about a silly job, her mother momentarily forgetting her birthday or about Ned being incapable of remembering her birthday gift? They were silly problems. Not real ones.
Lou turned into her own drive, brightening up as she always did at the sight of the cottage with its painted veranda. The clematis cirrhosa was already coming to the end of its winter flowering, the glossy evergreen leaves making the pretty cream bell-shaped flowers stand out.
Lou knew she was so lucky in so many ways. Her beloved Emily would be there the next night to help her pick the outfit, and Lou breathed in the relief at that thought. She missed Emily in a way she could never explain to anyone. Her darling daughter had flown the nest and while it was wonderful that Lou had taught her how to fly, it was incredibly hard to watch her do it. Still, they’d have precious time together from tomorrow evening. And Fridaywouldbe a fabulous night because it would have all her favourite people there – apart from her father and darling Mim.
Lou would just have to keep Oszkar and Bettina away from Toni, in case they spilled the beans about hiring someone else. Toni would not take that well. Neither would Ned. But these were minor concerns, Lou knew. If she could smile at her employers, and she was the one who hadn’t got the job, then her family would have to cope with it too.
People missed out on jobs all the time, after all. There was no point getting upset about it.
After all, she was going to be fifty and that was the important part. Not everyone was lucky enough to reach fifty: it must be celebrated. The universe was watching over her and how could she have doubted it.
